Welcome_to_the_Realestate Home_Page: This is the home page of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Real Estate Section.  This site is your gateway to the Real Estate Manual; downloadable forms and letters used in right of way acquisition, relocation, improvement control and property management; recent policy and procedural memoranda; and links to the laws governing all aspects of the right of way process.

August 2008

Revised Asbestos Inspection Procudures

Real Estate Manual Section 5 dealing with Improvement Control has been updated to include the revised asbestos inspection procedures and forms. AARS will also be revised to include tracking these inspections, which must be performed on all major improvements in the right of way.

Successions

Real Estate Manual Section 4 dealing with Acquisition has been updated to include the procedures to follow when an owner is deceased.

New Title Research Manual

The Process Improvement Initiative Task Team 4.4 has written an updated manual on how to prepare title work. The manual is available on the Real Estate website and will be useful to all persons preparing title reports for acquisition projects. The members of this team are Paul Charron, team leader, Eric Lanier from Location and Survey, Todd Vincent, with Sellers and Associates, Inc., Charles Hudson, Mike Del Rio, and Hubert Graves.

This Process Improvement Team has also prepared Microsoft Presentations on The Title Work Manual, DOTD title work standards, applying for the Real Estate Title Work Panel, and the associated documents and applications to apply for the panel. These may be accessed on the Training page of this Website.

Nondiscrimination Policy

Title VI prohibitions against discrimination have been incorporated in the Real Estate Manual in Section 7. These procedures now require that we collect race and sex information on owners and displacees. This information will be used by the Compliance Program Section to insure that Real Estate, its consultants and agencies over which it has oversight, do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex or national origin.

The brochure Acquisition of Right of Way and Relocation Assistance has been revised to include this information.

In addition, beginning December 1, 2005, a copy of the following correspondence will sent to the DOTD Compliance Programs Specialist:

• Request for Appraisals on a Project
• Project Initiation of Negotiations

This will give the DOTD Compliance Officer notice of projects that are about to commence Real Estate activities so that she can decide if she wants to accompany appraisers or negotiators.

New Lease Back Requirement and Procedures

The Office of Risk Management has instructed us that lessees of DOTD properties must obtain and provide proof of renter's insurance and liability insurance. The Lease Agreement, Adversely Impacted Lease Agreement and RE Manual Section 5 Improvement Control have all been revised to include this requirement.

Uniform Act 49 CFR Part 24 Revisions

In January 2005 the FHWA issued the final rule revisions to the Uniform Act. The determination of which set of rules will govern project acquisition depends on the Project Initiation of Negotiations, as described below:

1. If the ION occurred for a parcel before February 3, 2005, property owners, tenants, and other displacees are entitled to benefits under the regulation in effect as of the date of the ION.
2. If the ION did not occur for a parcel before February 3. 2005, property owners, tenants and other displacees from that parcel are entitled to the benefits and protections contained in the new regulations.
3. If a project is underway and the ION has occurred for some, but not all parcels, the Department may provide consistent benefits and procedures across that project by following the new regulations for all parcels.

The manual has been updated to incorporate the revisions, which include the following changes:

• Expanded the scope of non-residential displacee interviews to include replacement site requirements; the need for specialists to assist in planning the move; early personalty/realty determinations; the time needed to vacate; expected difficulty in locating a replacement property; and identification of advance payments that might be necessary to complete the move.
• Increased the Searching Expenses limit from $1,000 to $2,500.
• Moved some business move expenses previously considered REESTABLISHMENT to ACTUAL MOVE EXPENSES:
1. Costs to connect utilities from the right of way to improvements at the replacement site;
2. Professional services necessary to evaluate a replacement site for suitability to the displaced person's business operation;
3. Impact fees or one-time assessments.
• Removed the requirement to adjust the asking price on comparable housing to reflect market conditions in the area.
• Included professional home inspection as an allowed incidental expense.
• Allows a 180-Day Owner who elects to rent to receive a rental assistance payment up to the RHP amount if the market rent computation supports such a payment.

The following forms have been changed to reflect the new regulations:

Asbestos Inspections

The Real Estate Section will be shortly be required to obtain asbestos inspections on all acquired improvements to be moved or demolished, either by Real Estate or the Roadway Contractor. The new procedures are described in the Improvement Control part of the Manual, subsection 5.10. You will be advised when these procedures go into effect.

Acquisition of Right of Way and Relocation Assistance Brochure